Medical Genetics In the fall of 1946, Pauling presented his ideas as a research problem to Harvey itano, a young physician who was then working on a Ph. D. in his laboratory. Itano, worked for a year trying to see if sickle-cell hemoglobin was shaped differently from normal hemoglobinMedical Genetics In the fall of 1946, Pauling presented his ideas as a research problem to Harvey Itano, a young physician who was then working on a Ph.D. in his laboratory. Itano,worked for a year trying to see if sickle-cell hemoglobin was shaped differently from normal hemoglobin